Altria (MO) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know
In the latest trading session, Altria (MO) closed at $44.50, marking a -0.04% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.57%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.43%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.33%.
Heading into today, shares of the owner of Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker had lost 3.53% over the past month, lagging the Consumer Staples sector's gain of 2% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.72% in that time.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Altria as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be April 27, 2023. In that report, analysts expect Altria to post earnings of $1.19 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 6.25%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $4.98 billion, up 3.29% from the year-ago period.
MO's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $5.05 per share and revenue of $21.09 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +4.34% and +1.93%, respectively.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Altria should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.3% lower. Altria currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Altria has a Forward P/E ratio of 8.81 right now. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 8.42.
Investors should also note that MO has a PEG ratio of 2.2 right now. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Tobacco was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.61 at yesterday's closing price.
The Tobacco industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 217, which puts it in the bottom 14% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
To follow MO in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Altria Group, Inc. (MO) : Free Stock Analysis Report
